Lagniappe
by JasperRosalieWhitlock
Summary: Ashley Tisdale has traded in her muggy hometown for the big city. After being accepted to NYU, Ashley finds herself falling for her roommate, Vanessa Hudgens's handsome cousin Adrian R'Mante. What Ashley doesn't know is that a handsome face can cover a horrible past.
1. Lagniappe

**Lagniappe**

**Explanation: In the French Cajun world I have grown up around Lagniappe means: A Little Somethin' Extra.**

**It means something that adds spice to something you're cooking or sometimes…to your life.**

**This story is AxA. Not all cannon pairing but most is besides the AxA factor.**

**This story is also very AU and slightly OOC. My Ashley is a lot like SM's Twilight version of Bella but mine has a bit more of a bite to her! Haha!**

**Also, there will be lemons in the near future, explicit language use, violence, blood gore and yadi yada yada. You get the picture. Therefore this story is rated MA.**

**There will be angst, comedy, fluffiness, romance, heartbreak and everything else under the sun in this story so I hope you enjoy and stick with me. The beginning will be fairly slow since it's the introduction of the characters but after the first few chapters it will pick up speed! I PROMISE!(:**

**So here we go!**


	2. Chapter 1: Bayou Moo-shooAshleyTisdale

**Chapter 1. Bayou Moo-shoo**

**Ashley Tisdale**

I tapped my nails impatiently against the fake, plastic-like wood of the rather small desk that had already been placed in the dorm room I had been assigned when I had arrived only a few hours ago. My laptop was trying to adapt to the new server that NYU made available to all attending students, making it's boot up time run about ten times slower than before.

I let out a frustrated huff of air when I finally heard the soft hum of my computer come alive and eagerly typed in my password.

"Geeze! You really hate that computer don't you?" I heard my new roommate, Vanessa, grumble under her breath as she flipped through a rather thick issue of Italian Vogue.

She was probably referring to the way I pounded my fingers against each and every key on the keyboard. I did have to admit I was pretty harsh with the dinosaur that was my laptop.

"It's just taking so damn long for this thing to boot up!" I huffed and pinched the bridge of my nose in annoyance. The damned thing had frozen up again.

"By the time I get logged onto my email, it'll already be time to graduate!"

Ness just smiled and shook her head as she kept flipping through her gigantic magazine. I was shocked that Ness qand I had gotten along so well from the very beginning, even though we were polar opposites in every way.

Ness was gorgeous. Her body rivaled that of a Victoria Secret's Angel while her hair was every hairdressers dream. It was long and soft and perfectly straight. She claimed she never had to straighten it but I think she's bullshitting me on that one.

Vanessa Hudgens didn't even need to wear make up since her eyelashes were so thick and curled that adding that black goop would probably take away from her beauty, not to mention her perfect complexion and rosy lips that I only got when snow covered the ground.

Unlike Vanessa, I was utterly plain.

My pale skin could go up against an albino any day, displaying almost every single ounce of blood I had in my face while my eyes remained the color of caked on mud. I had always been skinny so when I hit puberty and sprouted some boobs, I was oddly surprised that I gained a set of hips as well. They weren't as apparent or flattering as Vanessa's but they were there.

The only thing that could possibly make me stand out was my hair; my long, slightly curled locks had always been think and smooth but I really enjoyed the color most of all. I had dirty blonde hair but with the slightest hint of burgundy here and there.

I wasn't some bleach blonde tramp like every other girl back home was.

Vanessa was into Prada and Gucci.

I was perfectly fine with shopping at Target.

Ness wore high heels.

I wore my old and perfectly comfy pair of Chucks that I have owned since the eighth grade.

Ness had posters of Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars posted on her walls while I had pictures of back home hanging around on every space I could manage to fit and a poster of The Killers.

We were total opposites but got along better than most sisters probably did.

"I give up!" I growled, slamming my laptop closed.

The damned thing wasn't responding to anything and I was just becoming more and more agitated. If I played with the piece of crap any longer I might just have chucked it across the room.

Not a good idea for a Lit major who has absolutely no funds for a new laptop.

"You wanna go grab something to eat?" Nessa threw down her magazine to beam up at me from where she laid on her bed.

"That sounds great."

"Alrighty, then. What are you in the mood for?"

Ness leapt off her bed to grab the lanyard the RA's had given us when we checked in today. She had already stuck about every key she had in her purse on that thing. It looked like she was the warden to a jail cell with about fifty keys on that one little loop.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "You're from around here. What's good?"

Ness laughed lightly as she slid into a pair of raggedy flip flops that looked totally out of place with the outfit she was wearing. She was covered in labels from head to toe and she decided to wear a pair of Dollar general flip flops? I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Do you like Indian food?"

"Indian food?" I asked uneasily. "You mean like Native Americans? I didn't know they had restaurants..."

"Ash," Ness laughed loudly and shook her head at me. "Not that type of Indian, stupid."

She was laughing so hard I could see tears brimming her eyes while she wrapped her arms around her stomach and began turning red.

"Oh," I cleared my throat as I felt my cheeks flame up. "S-sorry."

"It's fine," she finally managed to spit out as her giggles died down. "What? You didn't have Indian food back in Kentucky…Mississippi…wherever you came from?"

I rolled my eyes and snickered quietly as I stood up and searched for my old pair of Chucks.

"Louisiana, Ness." I corrected. "I'm from Louisiana."

"Same thing!" Ness waved me off. "It's all fried alligator and possum pie over there…"

Even I had to giggle at that one. Vanessa was right. No matter how bad I wanted it to be false, I grew up in the hickiest of Hicksville's. I grew up in the Bayous, catching minnows with nothing but my hands and running around through town barefoot.

My childhood was great, but as I grew older I knew I didn't want to be stuck in Louisiana forever. So I worked my ass off all throughout high school so I could not only be accepted to some of the best schools in the country but gain a free ride.

I didn't exactly get a completely free ride to NYU, but it was pretty damned close. I only had to pay for books and boarding, which was far better than having to pay the huge amount for an Out of State Transfer Tuition. Sure, I would still have a few student loans to pay off when I got out of college but it would only be a few thousand dollars since I had worked the odd job here and there since I was fourteen. I had saved up enough to cover what I could and was proud to say that I only needed to borrow as little as possible.

"Hey! Don't knock possum pie. My Grammy makes an awesome possum pie."

I giggled as I slid laced up my chucks and grabbed my lanyard as well it only had two keys; one for the old Jeep I had purchased in order to replace my old Chevy that I had to leave back home and the other was the key to our dorm.

Vanessa's eyes widened at my joke and I couldn't help but laugh at how gullible she was.

"I was kidding, Ness." I chuckled and made my way out of the dorm, still laughing at her.

"I knew that!" she spat back and gave me a playful shove out of the dorm. I snorted lightly and waited for her to lock the door behind her.

As we walked down the hallway to the elevator I could see things had settled down a lot since I had last stepped out into the hall. When I had first walked into my dorm building, cardboard boxes and people littered the hall so badly that I had to watch almost every step I took or else I would have probably tripped on something and killed myself.

"We still didn't decide." Ness nudged me in the ribs when we reached the elevators.

"What do you mean?" I quirked an eyebrow up at her.

"We didn't decide on what we wanted to eat and I don't know any places around here that serve up possum pie," She giggled, bumping hips with me. "So we need to decide."

"Oh," I mumbled as we walked into the now vacant and open elevator. "Maybe just some really good Chinese?"

I heard my stomach growl audibly at the thought of cabbage filled egg rolls and some steamy beef and broccoli.

"Yeah, that sounds great!" Ness nodded her head in full agreement.

"Do you know a place close by?" I asked as we finally reached the lobby level and walked past the gym and den area that was already filled with our peers that had probably already unpacked like Ness and I had.

"Well, it's not close by but the place I'm thinking about is really good and super cheap." Ness said as we headed for the parking lot across the street from our dorm hall.

"That's fine," I sighed, slightly disappointed. I had wanted to explore a little bit of New York before classes started in a few days. I thought it would be cool to walk around but Ness knew New York better than I did and I didn't want to get stuck walking home in the dark in New York. "We can take my Jeep."

Ness smiled in appreciation and opened her mouth to say something when I heard the familiar ring of Bruno Mars's "Grenade" start blare from Vanessa's purse. She dug through her purse quickly as we finally reached my Jeep.

She pulled out her massive Samsung Galaxy phone that was covered in tiny, pink, rhinestones and clicked the screen before placing it to her ear.

"Hey you!" Ness squealed happily, her smile growing wider and wider by the second as someone on the other line spoke.

I hopped into my Jeep and waited for her to slide in as well in the passenger's side before I turned the ignition on. The Jeep was so old it had a tendency to lurch forward when I started it so I waited just to make sure she didn't get crushed by the massive heap of metal I drove.

"Yeah…no, I'm not…me and my roommate are going out for some Chinese….I don't know…she doesn't even-….fine I'll ask!" Vanessa rolled her eyes in annoyance and she placed her phone against her chest so the person on the other end wouldn't hear her talking to me.

"Ash, I know it was just supposed to be us tonight but would you mind if my cousin tagged along with us? He's never been to New York either and I kind of promised him I'd show him around too." Ness begged, biting her lip to give off the façade of innocence.

"Him?" I asked, slightly suspicious.

"Yeah," Ness shrugged but pleaded to me with her eyes. "He's a nice guy, Ash. I swear," she crossed her heart over her heart, making me smile. "Just please let him come, or else I will never hear the end of it from my mother!" I could see her visibly shutter in horror at the thought.

I hadn't known Vanessa for very long but I knew I could trust her. She had even helped me unpack when I had arrived, a little jet lagged and quite grumpy. The least I could do was allow her poor cousin to tag along with us.

He had never been to New York either…maybe we could be friends?

"Sure. That's fine with me." I agreed.

"Thank you, Ash! I owe you one!" she squealed before pressing her phone back to her ear.

"You still there?….Yeah, she said it's totally cool but you better have cash on you!…Alright, alright…pick you up at West Hall Dorms…got it…see you in ten…bye."

I was already pulling out of the parking garage and driving towards the dorm hall I had passed by when I was trying to find my own by the time Vanessa hung up the phone. Ness gave me instructions on which side to pick up her cousin while I drove. After a few minutes of driving around the five story building Ness told me to stop and I did.

And there he was.

The man walking towards my car could not have been Vanessa's brother. He looked more like her twin brother with his long wavy, dark chocolate brown hair hanging in this face, but didn't cover up those deep brown eyes of his. I think anything could hide those beautiful orbs. They would probably be almost black through anything that dared to conceal them.

The man was tall, probably around six foot three and wore a pair of form fitted Levi's and black leather jacket on top of a black v-neck and holy shit…a pair of black leather biker boots.

"Where is he from exactly?" I whispered to Vanessa as she waved to him through the windshield. He smiled back at her with the most perfect white teeth I had ever seen in my life and waved back, not even noticing me.

"My family is originally from Dalles, Texas but when my dad got offered a job as partner at this really great law firm here in New York, we moved out here. Adrian loves Texas but wanted to see why I loved New York so much and landed himself a full ride to NYU." she finished right as he tugged open the door and slid into the back seat.

"Hey Adrian!" Ness unbuckled her seatbelt so she could twist her whole body over the seat and give her cousin an awkward looking hug.

"Hey there good lookin." The man's accent sounded fifty times smoother than what I was used to hearing back home. I practically melted at the sound of his voice, as soothing as it was.

"It's so good to see you! I can't believe how…tall you've gotten!" Ness giggled as her cousin chuckled with her.

"Yep. Eating will help with that growth spurt you haven't seem to hit yet. Not that you would know anything about that." his honey sweet voice teased Ness gently. "Look at how skinny you are! Momma would throw a fit!"

"I know!" Ness snickered and settled back into her seat. "Aunt Elizabeth would probably shove a plate of chicken Fajitas right in my face and force feed me herself if she had the chance." they both laughed loudly.

"And who might this pretty little thang be?" I heard Vanessa's cousin shift in the back seat and turned to see his face practically inches form my own. I jumped slightly but regained my self composer easily.

"Oh! How rude of me!" Ness said giving me a little wink with a mischievous smile beginning to crawl upon her lips. "Adrian R'Mante, this is my roommate, Ashley Tisdale. Ash, this is my hillbilly cousin, Adrian." Vanessa teased and ruffled his beautiful hair lightly.

"It's a pleasure." I held out my hand as Adrian's eyes locked onto mine.

He gently grabbed my hand in his own and placed a light kiss on my knuckles.

"No ma'm. I do believe it's this hillbilly's pleasure." he said gently nudging Ness with his shoulder. I let out a light snort and shook my head.

"Well, us hillbillies do have to stick together," I chuckled, letting my much rougher southern accent pop it's head out for a moment.

Adrian's eyes widened in awe as his lips parted into a wide smile.

"That's right!" Ness slapped her knee. "You're both basically redneck neighbors!"

"Where you from?" Adrian asked me over Vanessa's loud giggles at her own joke.

She thought she was so hilarious.

I shook my head and placed the car into drive and began to drive off campus.

"Louisiana." I finally answered after a minute of contemplation. He looked friendly enough.

Adrian threw his head back in laughter from what I could see in the rearview mirror and shook his head at Vanessa, making his beautiful chocolate locks sway from side to side against his tanned skin. He was so beautiful that it almost hurt to look at him. He was definitely related to Nessa. There was no denying that.

"So you can understand why I can't stand this weather?" Adrian chuckled and tugged at the jacket he was sporting.

To most New Yorker's the weather was pretty warm out for an August afternoon, seventy-five degrees, but to people like Adrian and I, who had lived in heat probably our entire lives, it was like sitting in a freezer.

"Hell yeah!" Vanessa piped up from beside me. She had been texting away on her Samsung Galaxy phone. I think she had mentioned a boyfriend back home or something before. "You should have seen her when she walked in to the dorms! She was probably sporting six layers." we all giggled as Vanessa told me to turn on a certain street.

"It's true," I shivered at the lack of layers I had on. "Back home, I'd still be walking around in a pair of shorts and a tee shirt. Here, I need to pile on the parkas." I chuckled as I began to ache for the sticky, humid heat that engulfed Louisiana's bayous.

"Danm…" I heard Adrian hiss under his breath.

I allowed myself a peek in the rearview mirror for a second when we stopped at another red light. Adrian was leaning back against the seat as his eyes roamed the little bit of my body that was visible from the side of the seat. I felt the blood in my cheeks rise up almost instantly as I clenched onto the wheel so hard my knuckles turned white.

"Ugh!" Ness flung her arms up in frustration. "I would kill for some warm weather!"

Adrian let out a loud belly laugh as I just smirked and shook my head. She had no idea what she was talking about. Sure, heat was better than cold to me, but she wouldn't last one second outside an air conditioned building.

"You would fry quicker than an egg on cement in the middle of July." Adrian scoffed under his breath so quickly that anybody who hadn't grown up around that talk wouldn't have caught it.

I had to roll my eyes at how well I could understand hick and giggled when I saw Vanessa's face twisted up into confusion.

"Take a left here," Ness said still puzzled. "What did you say?" Ness turned her whole body to glare at her cousin.

"He said you wouldn't last a second where we're from." I translated absentmindedly.

I was used to doing that. Whenever I let myself slip and spoke a little bit of hillbilly, I usually needed to translate. I had lived with my Grammy most of my life and she was fluent in three languages; English, French and Hillbilly. I had to give her a little bit of credit for my fluency in all three.

"I would too! The last time I visited you in Dallas it was nice and cool outside." Ness smacked Adrian's arm as I pulled up to the restaurant. I had recognized the name from Vanessa's blabbering while we drove around Adrian's dorm building.

"Nessie, you visited us in the middle of December." Adrian spoke slowly. "The only time of year Dallas gets even remotely cold."

"At least you get some cool weather. Back home, we don't even bother wishing for snow. We know that shit isn't ever going to happen." I chuckled darkly after I parked and pulled my body out of the Jeep. Ness and Adrian followed behind, bickering the whole way.

"I can't believe you!" I heard Ness squeal after we had been seated in the rather charming resturant.

The small brick building looked rather dull on the outside, with nothing to garnish the shell but a white, dingy banner with the name of the place written on it in both Chinese and English. On the inside, it was a totally different story.

The walls were painted different hues of oranges and reds with pictures of beautiful hand painted tigers and cherry blossom trees. Chinese lanterns hung along the low roof, making the dimly lit restaurant have a much more romantic glow around us.

"How could you tell Robert Torti that I had a crush on him?" Vanessa sounded horrified as her face turned red in fury.

"I told him 'because it's the truth and he asked about you!" Adrian shrugged.

"You're so lucky we're in public." Ness growled and clutched the side of the small booth we were sitting at so hard I thought she would break the table into splinters.

"Freaking asshole…" she whispered under her breath as a small framed woman that looked older than my Grammy hobbled over to our table with a large smile and three menus.

"Hello," the elderly woman cooed as she handed us each a menu. "Welcome to Yin Ching Chinese Cuisine. My name is Lena and I will be your server today. What can I get you three to drink?"

The small woman seemed genuinely happy to serve us even though her feet must've been killing her. I had seen her hobbling from table to table since this place was packed with people and she seemed to be one of the only three waitresses here.

"I'll have a sweet tea." Adrian answered first, giving Lena a charming little wink. The poor woman blushed lightly and let out a small giggle.

I guess Adrian does that to every girl he comes into contact with. Make them swoon, I mean.

"I'll have a diet coke, please." I answered with a tight lipped smile.

"Water." Vanessa grumbled, still pissed.

I nudged her in the ribs to try and snap her out of it but she only scowled at me and crossed her arms over her chest to pout. I really wanted to strangle her for killing my fairly good mood buzz.

Lena scribbled down our drinks and smiled before hobbling off to the kitchen.

"Will you chill out already?" I snapped at Vanessa under my breath.

Adrian was texting under the table. I felt a pang of anguish hit me at the thought of him maybe texting a girlfriend back in Dallas, but I shook it off and set my glare back on Vanessa.

"You don't understand, Ashley!" Ness protested dramatically.

"What don't I understand? You are being a total buzz kill right now! Get over whatever this is," I waved my finger back and forth between her and her devilishly handsome cousin. "And stop acting like a damned child!"

I could hear Grammy's voice in my own as I scolded Vanessa. My entire body shuttered.

"But he-"

The shrill sound of Bruno Mars blared from Vanessa's purse over the soft melodies off of some Broadway Musical soundtrack that the restaurant had playing in the background. She gave up on trying to talk to me and dug through her seemingly bottomless purse until she had it in her hand. She tapped something on the screen before answering.

"Hello?" her voice sounded curious.

Someone on the other line spoke in a deep tone. So deep I could slightly hear the other person from next to Ness. I let my faze to slip towards Adrian for a minute and saw a knowing smirk on his lips. I wonder what that was about.

"Oh! H-hey Robert!" Vanessa sounded like she was about to throw up as she nudged me to slide out of the booth so she could get out. She wanted to take the call in private so I let her out before sliding back in.

Jasper sat across from me, a smug smile permanently plastered on his lips.

"Did you…?" I asked Adrian, motioning towards wherever Vanessa had gone off to.

Adrian laughed lightly before nodding his heads and holding his hands up as if in defeat.

"Ya caught me," he chuckled.

I smiled back at him as I spotted a small figure coming towards us; Lena. The small woman set all of our drinks on the table before pulling out a little blue pad.

"Are you ready to order or do you need some more time?" the elderly woman asked an oblivious Adrian.

"Oh I haven't' even-"

"We'll take the service for six," Adrian interjected. "We'll have an order of Princess Prons, two orders of Moo-shoo Pork, an order of beef and broccoli, a Mongolian Beef and an order of fried rice." Adrian's voice was thick with his southern drawl as he spoke, making the names of the food sound even better to me.

I was stunned for a moment, but handed Lena my menu after she managed to scribble down the order. She gave Adrian a wry smile before taking up all the menus and scuttling back to her station in the kitchen.

"I'm sorry about that," Adrian whispered. I looked up to see him giving me the cutest little apologetic smile. "It's just this place is packed and I had been looking over the menu earlier…"

"It's fine." I smiled at him and took a sip of my drink.

"You'll like what I ordered." Adrian stated reassuringly, taking a gulp of his sweet tea.

I involuntarily licked my lips when I saw his Adams Apple begin to bob up and down when he swallowed. What I wouldn't do to kiss that.

"Well if I don't then there is always the five hundred packages of Ramen Noodles I stored in one of my boxes of crap," I giggled and waved a hand absently.

"Ramen? How stereotypical, broke, college student of you," Adrian chuckled, raising an eyebrow at me.

I took another sip of my coke, trying not to focus too intently on the perfect arch of his brow.

"I am theepitome of broke college students," I snorted.

It was the truth. I had enough money in my bank account to cover groceries and gas for about five months, so I sure as hell was going to stretch that out as much as I could. Even if that meant having the daunting task of choosing what flavor of Ramen I would be eating tomorrow for breakfast.

I'm thinking chicken.

"Really? I wouldn't have noticed with that piece of junk Jeep you got parked outside." we both laughed at that one.

I had gotten that Jeep for a little under two grand, so I took it as soon as I saw it. Sure, it had shitty mileage but I could deal with walking. New York was pretty awesome and the weather, while cold, was still pretty nice during the day. I couldn't complain.

"Well at least it's better than bumming a ride from someone with a piece of junk Jeep." I hissed back playfully.

"You got me there, darling." Adrian nodded as I ran my finger over the rim over my cup.

"So do you miss it?" I felt the question bubble out of my lips.

"Miss what?"

"Dallas."

"Do you miss Louisiana?"

His question caught me off guard. I honestly didn't know how to respond to that. I had always loved Louisiana but at the same time, living in the part of Louisiana I did meant that most of the time, you were probably never going to get out. plicated." I whispered, letting my eyes fall down to the table below me.

"How so?" Adrian's voice sounded sympathetic.

Maybe he knew how bad it was where I cam from. I highly doubt it, though.

"I guess," I took in a deep breath and blew it out before looking back into his eyes with as much seriousness as I could muster.

"I guess I was just ready to leave."

I nodded at my sensible answer but didn't bother to elaborate.

"I was too," Adrian nodded as he took a hesitant sip of his sweet tea.

"I love Dallas but living there my entire life," he shook his head. "It's suffocating. Especially with what my family plans for me to do one day."

I nodded, remembering Ness absently chattering away about how her family back in Dallas was quite wealthy for being in some business or another. I think it was something to do with oil or something.

"What does your family do exactly?" I asked, genuinely intrigued now.

Adrian lips pressed into a hard line after he let out a loud huff of agitation before he looked up at me with much softer eyes and answered my question.

"My family is one of the leading producers of oil in the nation," my eyes widened in shock. "We also dabble a bit in the agriculture area." Adrian shrugged, leaving me speechless.

"W-wow." I sputtered out, clearing my throat and trying to wrap my mind around what he had just said.

His parents probably make a pretty good chunk of change if they are in the oil business. Adrian didn't look too happy to be sharing this information, though. His face was twisted up in agony as he moved his eyes back to the table.

"So you're going to major in something dealing with economics then? To take over it or something like that, right?" I asked gently.

I didn't want him to feel like he was obliged to answer my questions because I felt like I might be sticking my nose in a place where it wasn't wanted. Uncharted territory.

"No, actually," Adrian swallowed and gave me a shaky laugh. "I'm majoring in culinary arts." he fiddled with the soy sauce jar at the edge of the table.

"You cook?"

"Yep," he nodded, still keeping his eyes down. "My father was always working and my momma stayed at home with me and my younger brother so, I spent more time in the kitchen learning how to make Coco Vaughn than I did playin' football or rollin' around in the dirt." Adrian chuckled darkly.

"Well that's great," I smiled. "It's awesome that you're doing something you love."

"I think you're the very first person to think that." Adrian's tone was somber as I saw Lena walking towards us from the corner of my eye.

The poor woman was carrying three plates of the food we had ordered on each arm, but did it was ease. She didn't even seem phased when a small child ran across her path. She just kept shuffling her way towards us and set each plate down on the table with three pairs of chopsticks in front of me as well.

"Thanks," I thanked Lena dryly before she scuttled away with one last glance at Adrian who was still staring down at the table.

I needed to get away form this subject and fast. I took a deep breath through my nose to catch the heavenly scents of all the foods before me. They all looked so delicious.

"These look great!" I said examining the dishes a little closer. "Which one do you suggest first?" I clapped.

Adrian smiled up at me, probably appreciating the change of subject and cleared his throat. He reached forward to grab one of the little plates Lena had given us to put our food on and started picking things up with his chopsticks.

"The Moo-shoo is one of my favorites. I don't think I've ever had bad Moo-shoo," Adrian said grabbing for what looked like a translucent egg roll. "Then there is beef and broccoli,"

"You can never go wrong with beef and broccoli." I chuckled.

Adrian gave me a little wink and nodded.

"What else?" I asked as he began to pile on what looked like battered and deep fried shrimp in some kind of darks sauce and chili peppers.

"These are the Princess Prons," Adrian said piling on more of it. "They are probably some of the best looking I've ever had."

Adrian handed me the plate after it became full with all the others, explaining what each one and what some of the ingredients were in the dish. I was practically drooling once I had the plate in front of me.

"You're fucking brilliant," I groaned through a mouth full of Moo-shoo.

All the food he had ordered had to be some of the best food I had ever tasted in my life. Not that I would tell my Grammy that.

Adrian laughed, popping a steaming Princess Pron into his mouth.

"I'm glad you like it."

"Hell yeah!" I said swallowing. "I'm thinkin' about buyin' the whole damn joint out of this stuff," I waved my hand over the Mongolian Beef.

"I think that's the first time I've heard you let you're accent really come out."

Adrian's smiled smugly and raised an eyebrow at me. I'm sure my face looked horrified. My accent was more Cajun than southern, but I still had a drawl. It was a much gruffer dialect than his smooth Texas drawl, so I felt a little bit self conscious. I cleared my throat and reset my mind, focusing on drawing back in my normal voice.

"Sorry about that." I apologized and sighed in relief when I heard my much more normal sounding voice come out. I welcomed the sound of normalcy.

"Why to you try so hard to cover it up?" Adrian asked curiously.

"Most people can't understand me, it's so thick."

I scarfed down another Moo-shoo, trying to remember I had to save some for Ness who was still on the freaking phone. I wondered exactly how long it would take that woman to talk to some guy.

"I could understand you," Adrian locked his glimmering eyes with mine.

"It's ugly, though." I shook my head.

My rough tongue sounded harsh and sloppy compared to his impeccable twang.

Adrian raised an eyebrow at that and folded his hands in front of him, still never letting his gaze leave mine. His lips twitched up into a gentle smile as he looked over me. He was trying so hard not to look amused, but failed miserably.

"I find it quite adorable."

My heart sped up to about a million beats a second when he said that. I could feel the flutters in my stomach as my breath hitched in my throat and from the neck up, heat flamed my skin.

"Well I see the two of you left me scraps," Vanessa's sweet voice rang in my ears as I noticed her practically floating towards us. "Thanks."

Ness plopped down next to me in the booth before grubbing out on the Mongolian Beef.

"You're an asshole by the way," Ness grumbled through a mouth full of food, pointing her chopsticks towards Adrian.

"But thank you for giving him my number." she said a bit more gently.

"Robert said he's going to be coming to New York during Thanksgiving with his mom, so we are going to go to the Macy's Thanksgiving parade and catch up." Ness said with a dreamy look in her eyes and a goofy grin playing on her lips.

"You're welcome." Adrian gave her a little nod before turning back to me with a wink.

Ness didn't even notice. She was far too engrossed in trying how to figure out eating her food with chopsticks without dropping any of it on herself while she texted with the other.

"Hey Ashley," Adrian said leaning in a little so he wouldn't have to talk so loud and catch Vanessa's attention. I leaned forward as well.

"Yeah?"

"I got in pretty late, a few minutes before you guys picked me up to come here, actually and didn't really get the chance to unpack anything." Adrian's eyes flickered between me and Ness, who was getting pissed that she couldn't eat her fried rice with chopsticks.

"Oh," I nodded.

I bit down on the inside of my cheek and looked up at him through my lashes.

I was trying the hardest I could not to smile. I knew what he was trying to do and I knew exactly how I was going to reply. There was no way in hell I could or would deny Adrian.

"Yeah," he chuckled. "I was wondering if maybe you'd come over and help me unpack some of my junk."

"Sure," I shrugged casually. "I'm sure me and Ness-"

"No!" Adrian cut me off with a worried look on his face, but composed himself quickly. It was getting harder and harder to try and conceal my amusement.

"If Ness comes she'll just nag me the whole time on why this and that aren't color coordinated or how I need to do this and that," Adrian rolled his beautiful eyes. "I was kind of hoping it could just be us…but if you feel more comfortable with Ness-"

"Okay," I nodded, cutting him off. "That sounds fine."

A huge smile instantly crawled it's way onto Adrian's face as his eyes shone with excitement.

"Can you be there by twelve?" Adrian said pulling out a pen from his jacket and scribbled something down on his napkin before handing it to me.

It had his phone number and dorm number scrawled across the little napkin. His handwriting was almost as bad as mine.

"Twelve is fine with me." I bit my lower lip, trying to hide my smile of pure excitement.

"Great." Adrian nodded as Ness began to bitch about something new.

**Hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. Second chapter will be up VERY soon! But until then I hope to keep you on your toes. What shall Bella do alone…with Jasper…in his dorm/apartent!**

**We shall see next time!**


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